Mass Transit Shutdowns as a Tactical Innovation in Bogotá, Colombia

Abstract

In a context of debilitated formal political institutions, a period of high levels of collective contention, and a protest culture in which road blockades are commonly used, this article argues that the implementation of a novel easy-to-block bus-based mass transit system, Transmilenio (TM), changed the repertoire of contention in Bogotá. To support this argument, panel data that register all protest events that took place in Bogotá between 2001 and 2010 are used in the context of a research design akin to a natural experiment. Results suggest that TM infrastructure did act as a magnet, pulling traditional street protest tactics that used to take place on regular streets and redirecting them toward TM lanes. In addition, following rationalist approaches regarding the emergence of tactical innovations, the article provides preliminary population-based attitudinal evidence suggesting that activists’ perceived effectiveness of TM shutdowns might be one likely mechanism connecting TM infrastructure to activists’ decision to mobilize in Bogotá.